page_title: Great Boston fire of 1760
section_title: The Great Fire
hierarchical_section_title: Great Boston fire of 1760 / The Great Fire
caption_attribution_description: English: Extract from "The Town of Boston in New England by Captain John Bonner, 1722."
context_page_description: The Great Boston fire of 1760 was a major conflagration that occurred on March 20, 1760, in downtown Boston. The fire destroyed 349 buildings in the area between the modern Washington Street and Fort Hill as well as several ships in port, and left over a thousand people homeless.
context_section_description: At about 2:00 a.m. on March 20, a fire of unknown cause broke out at a dwelling in Cornhill (modern Washington Street, nearly opposite to Pie Alley). Although the blaze was prevented from spreading much to the north or south, it aggressively made its way to the east to Oliver's Dock on the harbor, destroying most of the structures in its path. A veer in the wind caused the fire to change direction toward King (now State) Street, burning the homes on the corner opposite the Bunch-of-Grapes tavern and damaging the warehouses toward the Long Wharf.
  On its southeastern side, the fire expanded from Water Street to Milk Street, where it consumed many of the houses to both the west and east. From there it advanced via Batterymarch to Fort Hill, taking most of the buildings along the way, and reached the South Battery. A panic soon arose over the presence of a large deposit of gunpowder near the battery, but most of the store was hurriedly removed just before the fire reached the area. The remaining powder was ignited by the blaze, however, causing a huge explosion which was heard from as far away as Hampton, New Hampshire.
caption: Map of the area affected by the fire. The Old State House is marked as "a" near the top, while the Old South Meeting House is marked as "C."
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